Was a 1980 Wichita Falls Murder Inspired by ‘The Exorcist’?

Did you ever hear the story of a Wichita Falls woman who killed her daughter after watching 'The Exorcist'?

On February 22nd, 1980, 4-year-old Khunji Wilson was found dead in her mother's, Patricia Ann Frazier, car with her heart cut out and wrapped in a cloth in the vehicle's floorboard. Officers were called at 4 a.m. by Khunji's babysitter, saying she had just been informed that the child was killed. Apart from having her heart cut out, Khunji had been stabbed seven times. When investigators searched Frazier's apartment, they found a blood soaked mattress and the apparent murder weapon.

According to an archived article on UPI.com, then-25-year-old Frazier had previous mental health issues, reportedly being institutionalized four years earlier in California for a nervous breakdown. At a preliminary hearing a few months after the murder, Frazier was found incompetent to stand trial, but was found competent a few months later.

According to a YouTube video by Matthew Santoro on real-life crimes inspired by movies, Frazier had just watched 'The Exorcist' on television and believed her daughter to be possessed by demons. Frazier said she saw grass growing out of her daughter's chest and was instructed to remove her heart by spirits. Frazier was tried twice and ultimately found innocent by reason of insanity and released into the custody of her mother nearly two years after the murder. (This story is #8 in the video below)